#DuduzaneZuma: His ‘business interests’

Duduzane has been embroiled with the infamous Gupta brothers for years and is currently on the run.

Former president Jacob Zuma's son Duduzane Zuma. Picture: Chris Collingridge

CAPE TOWN – The close ally of the Gupta brothers, Duduzane Zuma’s whereabouts are not yet known.

Zuma along with Atul Gupta are sought by the Hawks after the elite crime-fighting unit raided Duduzane’s Saxonwold mansion on Wednesday, 15 February, but couldn’t find him.

Here are the 10 business interests you need to know about Duduzane Zuma, the son of the former president Jacob Zuma:

1. Duduzane Zuma was the director of Oakbay Investments and Oakbay Resources and Energy in association with the Gupta brothers: Ajay, Atul, Chetali, Arti, Verun and Rajesh. He resigned due to political attacks on the businesses.

2. Zuma was also the director of at least 11 other companies that include Tegeta Resources & Energy, as well as Shiva Uranium. He has since sold his shares that he owned in these companies, according to eNCA news.

3. In 2017, he wrote an open letter to the former finance minister, Pravin Gordhan, claiming that Gordhan misused his power to close all his bank accounts.

4. In the same year, Zuma pledged to donate his shares of the Oakbay media companies ‘ANN7’ and ‘The New Age’ to the South African Youth Development Programme, Fin24 reported.

5. He is being sought for his alleged role in the fraud scandal at the Estina Farm dairy at Vrede in the Free State. This farm was meant to invest R220 million in upliftment programmes for poor farmers. A number of politicians and business people have been accused of gaining millions of rands from the project that was earmarked for emerging black farmers.

6. It is understood that Zuma is a director of a Gupta company called Westdawn Investments, which is also allegedly guilty of drawing money from the farm project.

7. In an interview with BBC News, Duduzane has refuted allegations that the former deputy finance minister, Mcebisi Jonas was offered a bribe by the Gupta brothers, in a meeting that Duduzane was part of.

8. It has been suggested that he was involved in the state capture of Public Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) with the tender meant to be given to the Chinese.

9. Recent media reports suggest that Zuma’s associates have been spotted in several cities in India.

10. The opposition party Democratic Alliance has been demanding that the Judicial Commission of Inquiry into State Capture work urgently and probe the allegations of state capture, lodged against Jacob Zuma, Duduzane, and the Gupta brothers.